Phew what a hot week

it was bliss to go stand in the supermarket today, love air con... okay it ain't eco friendly but it is wonderful when it is hot. Think everyone had the same idea - to go for a slow walk round supermarket.

Had to laugh at one young lady, dressed in tight trousers, very tight, tight top and ludicrously high heels, with her mobile permanently stuck to her ear... she was oblivious to the rest of us. It was her shoes that made me laugh, she did not look comfortable, it was obvious that her feet were killing her, yet she kept on strutting round in these daft shoes.

My only concern was to get home in time for the tennis, everything takes a back seat this time of year, my only focus is Wimbers. It was a thrilling match on Monday night, tho I was worried that Murray might have been left emotionally drained, but this is what I love about the guy, he learns fast! He went thru an emotional match last year and so lost his next match easily, he never makes the same mistake twice. He came thru easily today, just went into cruise control. Can't see either Roddick or Hewitt beating him in the semis... we could be in for a thrilling Sunday.

Not in the mood for crafting, well if I want to watch the tennis then that means getting out my small craft table, which isn't really big enough for scrapbooking, only card making, and I have to be very organised. I'm also too hot, it is this humidity, love dry heat, can cope with that, but this... I just go into melt mode. Tho I am managing to sleep, but we had a cracker of a thunderstorm last night, woke up to some rumblings, then there was a very loud bang, followed by a big flash... so I made a cuppa.

Think the MJ stuff is now ott, and no doubt it will drag on for months. No peace in life, and none in death. Sad state of affairs.

Phew...

It's hot, luckily we do have a nice breeze. Had to go to doctors at 4.30, seemed hotter then than it had been in the morning. Bunged a bottle of vino in the fridge, red, but chilled red wine can be as nice as white. Good thing about hot weather is, I don't feel like eating! I'll have lettuce leaves coming out of my ears soon. Need a haircut, this mop is too long and thick to keep me cool... Why can't you just rewind it? The hair that is! Why does it have to keep growing, can't we just choose and optimum length and it stays there!

Half watching Murray, he's not got off to a good start, hope he can pull it off. Let's hope the swiss runs out of steam soon.

Was too hot to get the craft stuff out, so have made do with a card I made yesterday with the FF kit. The cardstock is white pearlescent card, which I got at a bargain price at the craft fair a while ago, it is lovely to work with, easy to cut and crease. You can also paint on it, was using the FF stamps yesterday and doing some painting, the card I made won't photo very well, it looks fine in real life, but rubbish as a photo. The pic is DL size, landscape, chose to put the decoupaged bear at the end, then used one of the topper strips, and the card stock topper Happy Birthday, along with a few dots! Nice to work with this stuff, all Do Crafts, so no problems with quality, tho the rub ons are a bit problematic, I had an awful time getting one onto acetate. Had to use the craft knife to ease it off in the end...

Well all for now... can I bear to watch Murray?

Phew... in melt mode....

The sky maybe grey, but it ain't off hot! The merest movement and I start having a hot flush, or more like a hot leak... We did have a nice breeze before, but it has gone. Hopefully the sun will return...

But have been playing with my TSV, the FF kit, lovely kit, keep finding different bits. I've made 15 cards so far, some are a case of peel and stick, or rub off... (if you can, they are tricky!), on ready made card stock, but the decoupage stuff does require a bit of work and imagination. Found also some use for the near redundant patchwork friends cardstock, it matches perfectly with this kit.

Did go for a potter amongst me pots, did a spot of pruning on some plants, and a tidy up was necessary. At last my impatients are blooming, thought they'd become prey once again to the dreaded weevil. I do now treat them once they're planted, this bunch took a week or so to get going, but they're blooming now.

So all nice on the western front, well almost, if my mother would stop moaning. She has not stopped all flaming week. The latest was a moan about Tesco's cheese coleslaw, which she enjoyed last week.... plus the quiche I got, which she assumed was from T, but in fact was from S - and she darn well enjoyed it the other week! Then she moaned about our new windows... which are far better than the old ones, they keep the warm in, and keep the place cool in summer. But is she happy... no. Yesterday I had to listen to her moan about the weather, the day before it had been too hot, then yesterday it was too grey, and she didn't want to stay in again... actually on Friday she'd decided not to go out... then she moans about the taxi fares... her fault for buying that oversized stroller. I just can't cope with the darn thing, and curse it every time I go downstairs as it is in the way of the front door. But what gets me is that last year mum had a pop at me for being miserable, think I had every right to feel 'got at' with all that was going on, but I took note and made an effort to be more positive. But will she do the same... no, she just locks into self pity mode.

Ah well, one more week of Wimbers... isn't he doing well. Long way to go tho, not sure what I'll do if he gets thru to final against the Fed, my loyalties will be divided.

Hope you've all had a lovely weekend, thanks for stopping by. :-))

He won again....

This is not what we're used to, Brits winning easily! Mind you I gave up on the edge of the seat stuff with Henman a long time ago... he simply wasn't good enough to win, he had his chance and blew it. But Murray is a winner, so refreshing to have someone to believe in, and have confidence in. It was a bit too easy tonight, but long may it continue... I also like that Mauresmo is sneaking thru the draw, love her to win a second title, just love how she plays the game.

Was a bit of a wash out here to day weather wise, very grey and miserable, and a bit on the cold side, tho it has now warmed up. Don't mind the odd grey day, as long as normal sunny service is resumed tomorrow. And the weather did me a favour last night, it teemed down, so let me off watering duty.

Got another 6 Forever Friends cards made this afternoon, so simple to make up, and with a nice result at the end. The first four were decoupage, which meant me using my noggin to be imaginative, then I used one of the patchwork friends card stock with the FF kit, it worked perfickly. Had a few probs getting the embossed rub on, off the acetate... bit of fiddling with craft knife sorted it. Will post results next week... too tired, well hey, all this tennis watching can be tiring!

Had good intentions of going to buy a few things today, but then just wasn't in the mood. I had a lie in this morning, shock horror, till... oooooh 9.15! Did manage a few breaths of fresh air, wandered over to corner shop for paper and lotto ticket, still got fingers crossed... and will keep on dreaming till tomorrow. Hopefully tomorrow will be sunny and I may be encouraged to go for a walk.

Knee was very good, but that was only cos I'd not done much. I keep fooling myself, thinking that all is well, then when I try to behave normally, or as I used to, then it starts to complain big time.

Will be scrapbooking tomorrow, time to start on mum's birthday album.

Holey moley....

I'm in shock... ordered TSV on Tuesday and... it landed this morning! I'd toddled off to do weekend shop, very hot today, so grateful to air conditioning in supermarket, I know one shouldn't be cos of the environment, but hey, it was lovely to be cool... I would also like to thank the pig ignorant woman who blocked my way, and ignored me even when I said 'excuse me', so I barged thru with a snarl... Silly cow, local supermarket is not that big, and it only takes one clown to block the damn aisle. Had a laugh in another shop, a woman had bought a hobby horse for her daughter, one that made horsey sounds, I joked with her that she'd 'regret it by the end of the weekend', she agreed with me. And then home, to find my nice suprise!

Not a lot of very interesting tennis today, so decided to test drive my TSV, made 7 cards in one afternoon! Okay some where a case of just sticking stuff down, but others, like the above, did involve what I call proper crafting, as in cutting, matting and layering. I am impressed with the kit, loads in it, ready to go card stock, toppers galore, backing papers, card, mirri card, and 3 stamps! All for 25 quid! So when I put this lot together I should have plenty for a craft fair.

And of course the sad news about Michael Jackson, his lifestyle was wierd, but I did like his music, and grew up with him. I'd sensed something big was going to happen, I'd had my usual 'unable to settle to anything' period, had the same before Diana died, and 9/11, plus a number of big world events before that. Last night I'd settled down to do some meditation, but couldn't get into it, so stopped and switched on the news, even before they announced his death I knew he was dead. And then all the news channels went into overkill.... it was way over the top. Very sad, a shock, but there are more important things going on right now and wholly unnecessary to concentrate on it for so long.

I feel very sorry for the families of the hostages held in Iraq, they must be going thru hell right now. The news of the deaths of two was horrific, there is closure for their families, but my heart goes out to them.

Rather hot and humid here, it has looked like we'll have a thunderstorm all evening, but so far all we've had is some rain.

Have a good weekend all.

how to upset a doctor!

Not that I cared... it was my OT appointment with the doctor this time. He's nice, but think the fact I'd complained about my previous appointment with the nurse may have bugged him a bit. He went on the attack, saying my consultant hadn't actually said if I would or wouldn't recover from my injury, or be able to do my job. Well my consultant has said to me verbally that any job involving standing for long periods is now out of the question... so I says: well doctors always hedge their bets... silence! Then along the way I mentioned my ambulance experience, and he sits up, course he knows that I know a bit about the old body and about how the medical lot work!

He was dismissive initially, but then softened. I wasn't there to cause ructions, I just want some straight answers, at least he gave them. No redeployment, council is not recruiting, so I will have to go for medical retirement. All depends on next appointment at hospital, and whether we can all agree that it is the blasted wires that are causing me the problems or the knee.

I know I should be anxious about losing my job, but to be frank I'd had enough. It is not the easy job most think it is, library work that is. It is a very physical job, and then there is the public..., most of whom are really very nice, but there is that ten per cent that make life unbearable. And even during my short career behaviour has got worse, and those more experienced than me agree. I'm also sick of targets, I mean what are you supposed to do, yank people off the street? Half the problem is that libraries are not libraries any more, many are put off coming in by what they find inside. Kids running amok, they're noisy, the choice of books can be rubbish (cos of targets).... so I am happy to be walking away. Or hobbling away.

Funny, I've never held a job for more than ten years.... not just itchy feet! Twice now I've had to give up because of health issues.

If I had a few spare quid I'd open a craft shop and be very content...

And ain't it lovely! All this sunshine and warm weather... bliss... we had a lovely cool breeze, which took the edge of the heat. Long may it continue, till October would be nice!

tennis and craft

Well they do just about go together. I managed to get four cards made between two and four, whilst watching Andy Roddick. I just got stuck into the patchwork friends kit. I am a bit puddled as to why they included card stock in this kit, as none of it is large enough to use with the decoupage. I've had to use my white pearlescent card stock instead, and improvise. Which is fine, but I'm still confused as to why they included so many made up cards?

Sort of caught some of the mini craft day, decided to go for the TSV. Tho not for the follow on Xmas kit. Not much else caught my eye. I just long for them to devote some real time to scrapbooking, and not just on the usual suspects, I'd rather they let Rosemary Merry loose and see what she can come up with.

Funny old day weather wise, started off in glorious sunshine, even got a chance to test the new Ipod! That was after nearly being run over by reckless woman on one of those scooters, she was zipping along, far too fast in my opinion. I am slowly figuring out the Ipod, last night I used it for a meditation, then once it was over I switched it off, or I thought I did! Er excuse me Apple but what is wrong with the word 'off'? Instead they use 'sleep' and to ensure it stays off and doesn't spring back into life you have to activate the hold switch... the walkman was far simpler! Yes I like the Ipod, but why on earth you can't drag and drop, switch it off in normal fashion is beyond me! I also liked the clickeyness of the walkman, you knew were you where, the ipod is far too touch sensitive, getting it to settle on what you want can be a bit of a nightmare.

Good tennis tho, nice match with Andy Roddick, nice taster to Murray. Of course everyone had him enjoying an easy win... I didn't think that would happen, his oppenent is talented. I think it gave Murray and everyone else the wake up call that was needed, well perhaps not Murray, he is not taking anything for granted. But it was a good match, very eventful.

All for now... will try to make more cards... depending on the tennis!

now I've got an ipod

Well after two days of trying to get walkman to sync with its own software I gave up. It was working with media player, sort of, but I knew it would bug me so nowt else for it but to return it and get the ipod.

You're never sure about returning stuff, whether it will be a simple affair or difficult. Luckily it was all very straightforward and I was all sorted in ten minutes. So had to spend time synching the ipod, and sorting out playlists... okay I didn't have to, but wanted to play. Had to laugh, I got it out of its box and switched it on, and attempted to set it to the UK, only hadn't realised how sensitive it was so ended up with Korean settings! Had to go thru the list to guess what was the reset button - LOL.

Do wish the walkman had worked tho, it was a nice little machine and it had a radio. Oh well, an ipod it is.

So no crafting again today, tho the above pic is just begging to be scrapped! Another pic from my friend, who is meerkat mad. This time it is of baby meerkats, they obviously believe in safety in numbers.

And another gloomy day, sick of this grey stuff. Hope you all had a good weekend, thanks for stopping by.

Got a new toy!

Yep, decided there was only one thing to do - treat myself. So I did. Decided to buy a decent Mp3 player, I bought an Ipod shuffle a couple of years ago, and while I like it, it is limiting. I wanted to be able to choose ablums etc. My friend kept on trying to get me to go buy a very posh Ipod, but I didn't fancy spending that much money. So I went and got a Walkman, and got a good deal as it was on offer, that is the next model up from the one I planned to get!

There was a bit of a faff with it, installing the software, which in the end didn't work. Found out it is a common problem, but no worries, media player works with it, as does Media Monkey. I'm sure it is the usb connection, my usb ports are all working fine, they all show the ipod shuffle working, but get iffy with the walkman... so may go back to that certain store tomorrow. It is working, but not sure it is working as it should do. Don't you just lurrrrve technology? Itunes can be just as much of a pain, my first bog standard Mp3 player was just drag and drop, brilliant... dead simple. And I ain't calling any expensive helplines either. It syncs with Media player, but not with its own software... mmmmm... methinks the tech heads ought to sort it out as I'm not the only one who has had problems!

So no crafting, too busy playing with new toy, or rather updating stuff to see if that would cure the problem. Not that it has, PC says the walkman is attached, media player says it is attached, only Walkman media manager can't find its own walkman!

Knee was really painful this morning, felt like my knee was full of glass, 4 painkillers and an ibuprofen later it had eased off. The other day it was fine, but then I hadn't done much. I keep thinking that maybe it is okay, but then remember I'm not moving around as I would do in my old workplace. And when I do stuff like housework the knee complains big time. I feel like a crock, and don't want to be a crock. Can't believe one silly prat fall could do so much damage.

And weather isn't helping, it was glorious on Monday and Tuesday, but since Wednesday, well summer has gone on hiatus. Just cloudy, rain and cold... summer, what summer! Notice how the weather folk aren't mentioning their claim of a 'hot' summer anymore? Mmmmm, and if they keep on saying that it will be 'sunny' when they mean the South will be sunny, I'll chuck something at the TV!

One day left and it is Wimbers!

Eureka - a result!

It pays to be nice :-)) As I said in last blog, I had to contact the ESA over my claim. Rather than get annoyed with the customer services advisor, I was nice to him, kept my cool, and he responded in a likewise way, at the end he paused and then said: anything else I can help you with? Which I thought was nice as he was obviously having a bad day. But my niceness paid off, today I got a letter saying they'd sorted out the error and that all the money owed to me had been paid into my account. Yippee! Just in time, as car needs taxing next month. May also treat myself to a few craft goodies.

Also spent the afternoon scrapbooking. Needed to make my quirky page. This (see pic) just came together in a matter of minutes, just used a neutral background, then added a chunk of stripey paper, then wanted some circles, so cut out a large one, then kept cutting more out from it. The title finished it all off: Catching Rays... well that is what it looks like the cute meerkat is doing. A very enjoyable afternoon.

Which made up for a sad morning. Found mum having a cry, it is this darned wound, while it isn't any worse, it isn't much better. So I gave her a cuddle, and we had a little chat about stuff, so she felt a bit better. I made her go meet her friend in the afternoon.

And the sun has just come out!

Funny old week...

Started with trying contact the ESA folk... no go on Monday, tho did get thru to another department but they couldn't transfer me! On Tuesday tried again, still got the 'you're in a queue' message, or having phone picked up and put down.... grrrrrrr. So tried different number, got thru to friendly assistant, she tried to help, at least she tried ringing the ESA folk and got same result as me, so she was very sympathetic, and said she'd e-mail them to get them to phone me. Didn't hold out much hope of that, so made lunch, settled down with a cup of tea and rang ESA, this time i stayed on hold.... 40 minutes later.... I got thru! Yep, I was tempted to lose my rag, but then thought that there was no point, besides the guy I was speaking to sounded so tired, he'd obviously been hearing abuse all day. So took the 'be nice' tack, and it worked, think he was so thankful to hear a friendly voice, he apologised for my non payment, then asked what I'd been surviving on, luckily I am on half pay and get a NHS pension, so I am not destitute, Lord knows how those without extra income get by. Then result, he said he'd send letter to GP, and I had to get copy of old sick note, and to write a letter, and he told me to complain. So I am.

Tuesday was a nice day, got result with ESA, popped into work, had catch up natter with friends, got copy of sick note. Then I decided to go investigate new craft shop, which promises from its advert to be all things to crafters... only it wasn't! Nice enough owner, but hardly a serious craft shop, it took me five minutes to look around! I did get a few bits, but there wasn't a lot to choose from. This area is crying out for a decent craft shop, the demise of Craft Central has proved that. If I had the money I'd set one up. But next door to craft shop was a magickal shop, choc full of crystals and stuff, so had a wander round there. Tho it was far too hot to be indoors, but had nice chat to owner.

Today has been rubbish, raining all day long... but forecast is okay for tomorrow. Don't mind the odd rainstorm, just once a week, and preferably at night time please. And I forgot the loo rolls again!

My potty garden is looking nice, got some bedding plants for the planters, so all pots are now filled. Gave all the hebes a trim yesterday, as for the roses, oh boy do they need a severe prune. Didn't get one in the winter as I wasn't up to it, did as family to do it but... yeah, they never quite got round to it.

Did tho do some crafting today, finishing off an exploding box, birthday box. Using the bits i picked up yesterday. Spotted the bagpuss decoupage, and couldn't resist! Box is all finished. Must do some scrapbooking tomorrow, got loads of pics to scrap. And my own challenge to finish. Already missed one, can't miss another.

And it is Wimbers next week... must get the armchair perfectly aligned with TV.

What is the bleeding time?

Ten minutes.... that used to be a sort of joke for us medical lot. However it is true, it can take up to en minutes for a cut to stop bleeding. And it took that for my thumb to stop bleeding this afternoon, okay so i was partly distracted by the tennis, and probably should have been cutting an onion, but i was, till.... all this red stuff appeared! There was blood everywhere, it just wouldn't stop, tried two dressings, it came thru them both, then wrapped it in a large piece of kitchen towel and held it up in the air. It was a very long ten minutes but it finally ground to a trickle. So now have a huge bandage on thumb.

We've been having fun at my craft group, Papercrafters, we all somehow ended up volunteering to send out kits to the other members to make up cards. But it has been fun, waiting for the kit to arrive every month, and wondering what we'll find inside the envelope. They've all been different, as have the creations. This is the latest one, we all got the same stuff, die cuts, different colours, it was a case of place and stick... just had to work out where to put the stuff before sticking. You can only do this with a smallish group of course, tho we are looking for new blood, so if you want to join in the fun then hit the link on the left.

I'm also furious with the DWP, been trying to contact them for the last few days, just get the 'you're in a queue' message all the time. I am pretty sure they can't be always engaged. They stopped paying me my ESA, some twit somewhere has misread my sick note. And they've not sent me back some important documents either. One will have to be replaced, and they can darn well pay for it. The great majority claiming ESA are not bogus, we're genuine, I've also worked my entire life, and so paid into the system. I'm just trying to get what I am entitled to. Hoping to get some advice from a friend, she is a manage of a job centre.

Has been another nice day, well it was until about 4 pm, then it went very grey. But managed to hobble round supermarket, was thinking of getting them to deliver. But then remembered the new humungus stroller now parked at bottom of stairs, that would have to be shifted before the delivery guy could get in. So figured it was easier to get hobbling. I still managed to come home without the loo rolls and chips... mind you the place was full of irritating types... husband and wife teams, there for a day out, or so it seems, and they insist on discussing every item that goes into trolley! Make a list, leave hubby at home, and go zoom round supermarket! And then of course there are those who plonk trolly in middle of aisle and then disappear, usually men, and those who have to study all ingredients on label... why? And also why do supermarkets keep changing where stuff is? I was reaching for my mushrooms and looked down to find I had a pineapple in my hand... they'd moved the veg and fruit around! They always do, and it never makes any sense. And could I find my coleslaw.... which was with the salad stuff... and which had now been put with the cooked meats? Raspberries to the lot of them... leave it all alone!

Well I've decided it is summer, got two bottles of white wine, one is chilling nicely in fridge. So enough of all this wet stuff, cold winds and the like... come on Mother nature, get into sync, it is SUMMER! Just have lots of hot flushes till October... :-))

Barking, of course...

Oooh, hey up the sun has come back...

Quick someone, superglue it over the UK so it can't disappear again. I mean it is summer, I have all my summer clothes ready to wear, can't go rummaging for woolies to keep warm.

Off I went today for my medical, must admit the waiting room was an eye opener, figure there were about 3 of us who were genuinely disabled... rest looked very hale and hearty. Have no idea how I did in the medical, tho nurse was impressed by my lumpy knee, had to point out what was what, the wires and bone. Knee is as useful as a chocolate fireguard at the moment. Oddly enough it was super painful after, not sure why, in fact I had to stop and sit down on way back to car. Thought it would be okay once I had a longish sit down whilst having a chat to boss, wrong, it was just as bad. Made it to the shops to get some milk but that was all I could manage. Was cursing myself, wanted to go to bargain shop to get some perfume.
Was really feddy uppy.

Didn't get back home till after one, and of course there is tennis on TV, and Murray was playing, so no crafting! But got to make another box and have it ready by end of weekend. Didn't realise a friend had a big birthday coming up. Well it will just have to be tennis and craft tomorrow, and got to get some bedding plants.

Hope it is sunny where you are.

Wet Wednesday

Okay, so what has happened to our promised blazingly hot summer? Was that it a couple of weeks ago? And can we sue the met office for getting our hopes up?

It has been decidedly grey and yucky here. And today we got some of that damp stuff coming down. But had a nice day, my cousin and his wife had finally made it over to this side of the country, en route to Scotland. So we had a lovely lunch, and then I took him on a tour of his old haunts... so a nice trip down memory lane. Well for him... but a nice day. I do like them, get on well with them, they are so laid back and chilled out, on the whacky side, my kinda people!

Did manage to catch Mr Murray winning his match, in a very easy way... tennis at Queens so far has been disapointing, far too many boring matches. Hopefully things will now get interesting. Blimey and England are 5 nil up on Andorra! Does the latter have a defence?

Am very disappointed in CSI, since Grissom left it has been all down hill. They need someone charismatic in the show, the replacement isn't working. It was wrong to go for a greenhorn, they should have brought in a fully trained CSI, who would ruffle everyone's feathers. And why aren't we seeing much of Catherine? She's the quirky one, far more interesting that dull Nick, he's good, but as a foil for other characters. Just hope they sort stuff out for next season, as they are definitely missing Grissom.


No crafting... and none tomorrow. Tho have now got pics for scrapping. Went to Boots to print off pics, arrived at same time as tech head who had come to repair machine... it did not bode well. I got on with selecting pics, went thru all the faffing, got to end of program to be told - no paper in printer! Except there was... five minutes of faffing by tech head, and assistant, printer spewed out umpteen blank sheets of paper, and finally got round to printing my photos. Still they knocked a few bob off for my inconvenience. So now got 12 photos to scrap....

be back tomorrow

Another week....

Well can't complain that I'm not sleeping, in fact this morning it was hard to get out of bed. Was sooo snug. But had to, as cousin was supposed to call... wasn't sure when, but it was supposed to be during the day. Can only assume he got snarled up in traffic somewhere.

Still chuffed about Federer. And it is Queens this week, so lots and lots of tennis to be enjoyed. Tho today's matches were rather one sided. Also had my reiki session, and found that my practitioner is also a tennis nut! So she understood when I said I'd not be attending for a few weeks, too much tennis going on. Plus I'm meditating again, which is really helping me. Everything is just sailing over my head.

Got loads of pics to print off, was going to use PC, but then thought it would cost me a fortune. Was looking at photobox, but then looked at Boots, their prices are similar. So tomorrow it is going to be busy. Got photos to print, stuff to post, bills to pay... and all before the tennis starts!

Funny tho, I was thinking back to this time last year, when I was on my own, with craft stuff everywhere. And I was enjoying myself.

ttyl later, thanks for stopping by - is muchly appreciated.

Oops, pic: another creation from the patchwork friends kit from Kanban, a very cute bunnie. Oh he has a back as well... so a fully rounded character!

Yay he won!!!!!!!!!

Phew, at last Federer won the French Open! Guess some saw it as a foregone conclusion, I didn't, Solderling had been playing well, and he'd beaten Nadal. But Federer played superbly, I just love watching him, he is such an artist. It was a nervy couple of hours but finally he was champion. Well done Roger!

I was going to craft and watch, but decided to just watch. Instead I got a load of ironing done, and the housework... no not while the match was on! Before!! Just hope my pal has passed her grading as well, did have all fingers and toes crossed for her.

Well we didn't get the soaking that the weather people had predicted, in fact we had one shower. The way the chart looked yesterday I wondered whether to start building an ark. Notice tho, when they get it wrong they never admit it? Well just want the sunshine to reappear now.

More tennis tomorrow, what was the Stella Artois starts, now it has a very funny name...

Hope you all had a dry weekend.

Wuz that it?

Did we just have summer? It is orrible here, all grey, rainy, windy and cold... not a happy bunny. Can't believe that last weekend I was basking in the sunshine... well actually I was devouring a tasty curry.

But had a busyish day, went to support a friend with their coffee morning, being held for Cafod. I took some cards for them to sell, was chuffed when they started selling straightaway. And they charged £2 for them! But it was in a good cause. Shame the weather was so foul, they also organised a plant sale, and my friend's house is lovely, and the garden is spectacular. So the rainy conditions didn't help, but no-one was too down about it and there were loads there.

Then off for a spot of shopping, mum volunteered to go get prescriptions, but that meant me lugging the new and huge stroller out of the boot, and I was not in the mood... so told her to stay put. I curse that blinking stroller - no thought went into buying it, whether it would fit my boot, whether I could manage it and if it would fit at bottom of stairs - which it doesn't. And so into the supermarket, and to a bunch of ignroramuses... 4 women had blocked one aisle completetly as they had a chat... another woman just refused to give way to me, even tho she could see I was using a crutch and was limping, mind you I won that battle as I just refused to budge. That's why I had that particular supermarket, not the actual supermarket, just our local branch of it. The customers are the biggest pain and are utterly ignorant, rude and selfish. As for chap at checkout, me and the assistant were both getting fed up with him, he was taking an age to pack his bags, the assistant had offered, then he queried his change, only after he'd put it in his wallet... me and assistant just rolled our eyes. She was very nice and helpful. Then off to papershop, grabbed a craft mag as I liked the free gift (and what a load of tat it turned out to be!), got puzzle mag for mum and so back to car, now feeling very soggy. Just wanted to go home.... but mum wants to go to wool shop. So a detour, and of course I get faced with choice, unload the damned stroller, and then help mum into shop, or just go myself. So I went, since she knew exactly what she wanted. So another soaking, but the owners in the shop were nice, so had a chatty chat to them.

After lunch settled down to some cardmaking, made 6 cards, 5 are the patchwork friends cards from Kanban, see pic above. Still trying to figure out why they've inclued about ten aperture cards, as none fit the patchwork friends decoupage! Most of the figures are standing, so they won't fit into the aperture... fortunately got loads of card stock, and spare envelopes.

Had nice day yesterday, met up with a friend, we popped over to Chester. We did have plans to go to the zoo, till we saw the price £14! I nearly fell over, seemed a bit extortionate to me. Had it been a very sunny day, and had we been intending to spend the day there then we might have paid, but we only wanted to spend a couple of hours in there. So we headed to Chester. The weather was a bit iffy, tho none of the forecasted rain came. We did a bit of shopping, had lunch and then went in search of a crystal shop, luckily we found it. Got some lovely bits and bobs, and a pressie for my friend, it was her birthday yesterday.

More crafting tomorrow I think, more rain is forecast. And it is the French open final... can Federer do it at last?

Hope you're having a lovely weekend, thanks for stopping by.

seriously chilled part two

The second day of the workshop started off with a hearty breakfast, think all of us on the workshop headed for the dining room to indulge in a full English. A lot of us met up outside on the decking area, the weather was glorious. We introduced ourselves properly, and enjoyed a nice chat, the others had realised that we'd been before so me and my friend found ourselves being quizzed as to what would happen on day 2. We really didn't know as the format can change, but we said that there would probably be a guided meditation and more of the tapping exercise.

We'd all started to nicely chill out, in fact it seemed a shame to have to go to the workshop as we were having such a good time! All aside from me and my friend had abstained... we had enjoyed a couple of glasses of champagne, and some wine over dinner. We'd managed to find a lovely curry house just round corner from hotel. Service was excellent as was the food. We mooched back to our hotel around 10ish, and had a coffee, it was a lovely balmy evening. Then we decided to go catch up with CSI NY... but our TV had gone on the blink! So we hit the hay, my friend was out like a light, but my mind was still racing with stuff from the workshop, so I did a fair bit of journalling. I did snatch a few hours sleep, got revenge on my friend's snoring by asking her if she wanted a cuppa, at 4 a.m.!

We made our way to the workshop, sadly a couple of people had to leave early to get planes, so Lindsay wanted to do some stuff before they left. We had another blessing, I felt totally charged after it, then we had a very interesting guided meditation. It was painful for some, these can sometimes stir up powerful memories and emotions. I felt strangely detached, a little tense too, then we had a break. Those who were leaving said their goodbyes to Lindsay, while the rest of us enjoyed a welcome cup of tea. One of the group had baked some delicious cakes and flapjacks. Think we all made pigs of ourselves. We finished off the workshop with some more EFT work, I found some of it difficult, but got thru it. Then all too soon it was over, and we were all exchanging addresses and saying our goodbyes. Most were leaving for home that night, me and my friend were staying on one more night. Most said they wished they'd booked to stay the extra night as it would have been nice to have a 'get together'. So as they wandered home we organised ourselves a pizza, and also had to get my card key redone... it wouldn't work! Funny it had the day before, then I took my friend's key and managed to demagnetise that as well!

I bought Lindsay's meditation CD, a continuation of her oneness blessing, but it can also be a stand alone meditation. I hope she does more, she has a wonderful relaxing and calming voice, the specially arranged music is also beautiful. I've found it relaxing and energising. I'm so glad to have rediscovered my meditation.

Pic: is of card I made with new kan ban kit, patchwork friends. A great kit, easy to use, and you do get to use your imagination a lot with it. I loved working with it, and got lots more cards to make :-))

we lost but I'm seriously chilled......

Amazing what a weekend of tapping and meditation can do for you, well chuck in a decent curry, and a bottle of wine... mmmm interesting that somewhere on the workshop thing they recommended 'abstaining'... Hey wine is grape juice, okay so it is fermented grape juice, can I help that? Besides chap at Purple Mango curry house kept on pouring our wine... great restaurant, situated in Milton Keynes, but highly recommended by moi. Great curry, and service second to none.

Yup it was an interesting weekend, starting on Saturday at 5.a.m., I was awake, wasn't due to be awake for at least another 30 mins, but hey ho, I am awake so may as well get up as opposed to tossing and turning. Funny how those cluster thingies don't taste as tasty at that hour! But food and drink were necessary, as it turned out it was a good thing I had woken so early, had forgotten how long it takes to lock up a place and make it secure, plus time spent remembering stuff you've forgotten... Finally I was on my way at 6.45 a.m., thinking, foolishly, that motorway would be clearish.... nope! Full of Evertonians, it was a case follow the blue flags and banners, no way could I miss turn off... All the motorway stops were highly entertaining, full of blue scousers, all with hope in their hearts. Finally made it to Milton Keynes at 10.10., after first stopping at OU, which shares post code with hotel.... yep we all made same mistake, all of us on workshop travelling by car... even the two who were leading workshop made same mistake. Encountered worlds slowest hotel receptionist, nice, but slooooooooow. Finally got to room, and as you do, you flop, relieved to have made it... mind still a buzzing from motorway driving, body on fast forward... and you are HUNGRY! Off to restaurant, to catch breakfast before it closes... had the works, bacon, sausage, egg, beans, mushrooms, hash browns, toast, and huge pot of tea... then I felt human. Mind you, shot of espresso at service station had woken me up, oh boy did it wake me up, as in cartoon style jolt into alertness... My mate soon arrived, and so we explored the facilities, and got an unwanted pest who attached themselves to us, we did try to shake them off but they were sooooo thick skinned.

All too soon it was time for workshop, not that we were in mood to be serious, and so we weren't. Well hey, you learn much more with humour. And so a laugh was had by all, along with a lot of learning and healing. The afternoon passed by very quickly, tho the room was boiling, it had french windows but hotel would not allow them to be opened... WHY! So first workshop came to an end, we were advised to abstain, mmm, bad move, never advise such a thing, cos of course you end up doing the opposite. Probably why I ended up so wired that night that I couldn't sleep. Well my friend's extraordinary snoring didn't help, and I'd forgotten my ear plugs, how could I forget them, I knew she could snore for England!

to be continued.....